Receptacle filling machine



April' 14, 1942. c. H. AYARS RECEPTACLE FILLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. CHARLES HAYARE ATTORNEY. h

April 14, 1942. c. H. AYARS RECEPTACLE FILLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. I: l-IAFiL E5 HAYAH 5 ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 14, 1942 RECEPTACLE FILLING MACHINE Charles H. Ayars, Salem, N. J., assignor to Ayars Machine Company, Salem, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application August 24, 1939, Serial No. 291,648

4 Claims. (Cl. 226-97) This invention relates to receptacle filling machinery, and more particularly to a machine which will operate at a high rate of speed and still fill receptacles with accurate amounts of discrete solid and liquid materials.

In the packing industry, and particularly in the filling of vegetable and fruits into cans and the like, it has been found that after discrete solid' material has been deposited into receptacles that considerable time is consumed by deposited liquid in finding its way into the voids or interstices between the discrete units of the solid material. This has caused receptacle filling machinery and the like to. be operated at lower speeds than would be the case if the liquids would find their true positions in the receptacles in a swiiter manner. This slowing-up effect of the liquid has, in some instances, resulted in the manufacture of machines with a greater number of measuring pockets, funnels .and the like, all of which is more expensive, and in other instances, the receptacle filling machine included auxiliary briners and the like which required operating mechanism in addition to that ordinarily employed for operating the machine. Moreover, when the machine operated, these auxiliary briners operated to amounts of liquid regardless of the fact there was no can to receive same.

The object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle filling machine in which a sizable amount of liquid is first deposited in the can, the discrete solid material then dropped to displace this liquid, and the receptacle finally filled with sufficient liquid to complete the filling of the receptacle.

A further object of the invention is to provide deposit predetermined Another object of the invention is to provide provide novel'means for operating the liquid measuring anddepositing apparatus.

According to the invention, the machine is provided with a main hollow operating shaft carrying a double funnel member, the inner ring of funnels for guiding solids, the outer ring of funnels for guiding liquids, a star wheel affixed to said operating shaft, a solid shaft extending through said hollow shaft and having means at the upper end thereof for rotating measuring turrets for the purpose of receiving and depositing discrete solid material in said funnel member, a star wheel for operating said solid shaft, star wheels for receiving receptacles and operating in connection with said first named star wheel, mechanism for depositing liquids into the outer funnels from whence same is admitted to said receptacles, means for feeding receptacles to said star wheels, said last named pair of star wheels being so located that the first is at one side of the second named star wheel and the other at the other side of said second named star wheel.

The drawings illustrate an'embodiment of the invention and the views therein are as follows:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the complete machine,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the machine with the hopper, upper turret mechanism and associated parts removed,

Figure 3'is a fragmentary vertical sectional View of the machine at a point indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the discrete solid hopper showing the yoke for holding the same in position and the mechanism for rotating same,

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in section of the mechanism for rendering the receptacle feeding mechanism inoperative,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of one of the star wheels employed,

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional View of one of the fingers of the star wheel taken on the line l--1 of Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view showing the upper turret for the measuring cups in section and the mechanism for raising and lowering same broken away,

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view through one of the liquid measuring devices, I

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic view showing the operating relationship of the several star wheels,

and

Figure llis a fragmentary detail view showing the manner of housing the stub shafts which carry the universal joint on the shafts which operate the liquid measuring devices.

The machine has a table l6 supported on legs or standards I'l. One of these standards is provided with a bracket l8 having a bearing ii! for a shaft 2!. This shaft is also housed (not shown) inthe left hand standard 11, and the outer end of the shaft 21 is provided with a pulley 22.

The inner end of the shaft 2| is provided with a bevel pinion 23 meshing with a bevel gear 24 secured to a hollow shaft 25.

The hollow shaft 26 extends up through the table It and has a star wheel 21 affixed thereto while the upper end of said shaft has affixed thereto a funnel casting 28. A solid shaft 29 extends up through the hollow shaft 26 and into the sunken chamber 3i (see Figure 3) of the funnel casting, and is provided on its upper end with a pinion 32 which 'meshesw'ith a gear 33 on a shaft 34 passing througha housing fifi on a stationary plate 31 and into a housing 38 on a lower turret member. 39 and where it is fixed by means of. the set screw ii.v The lower turret member 39 is provided with upstanding ring flanges 4| which are spaced in a circle around the same, and an upperturretM has complementaryrin'g flanges 43 which fit into the ring flanges 4| of the lowerturret so as to form adjustable telescopic measuring cups.

The upper turret member 42 is provided with a lug 44 having a keywayllt and a pinion 41 fits onto said lug and is securedthereto by said key and meshes witha ring gear 43. on the inside and atthe bottom of the hopper d9.

The bottom of the lower turret 39 fits within a recess v|. on the upper face of the stationary plate3'l, and its center of rotation is indicated at C while the center of rotation of the funnel casting is indicated at D.

. At one side of .the hopper 49, andlocated near the periphery of the stationary plate .31 is a bracket 52 fixed to said plate, and which has a downwardly extending portion '53 fixed to the 1 standard LIT. This bracket has an upstanding bushing 54 for receiving and fixing therein an upstanding shaft '53. This shaft extends into a sleeve 51 which has its upper. end closed to provide a wall 58 while the unthreaded part of a screw 59 extends through the upper 'wall 58 of said sleeve and said screw is provided with 'a collar 6| fixed thereto, while; its. threaded end extends into said upstanding shaft 56. The upper end of said screw is provided with a hand wheel 62 so thatupon turning the same the sleeve 51 will be raised or lowered on the upstanding shaft 56.

The sleeve 51 has a cantilever armfit provided with blocks 64 on its lower surface. These blocks are secured to a yoke 66 which has a pair of outwardly extending arms 61 and 53 (see Figures 4 and 8) and these arms areprovided with downwardly extending flanged members 69 each carrying a roller H which bears against the lower peripheral edge of the upper turret member I42. Of course, it will be understood that this yoke member supported by the cantilever '63 will be stationary, while the turret member will rotate. Consequently, the roller 7| will prevent friction between said parts. Uponthe turning'ofv the hand wheel 62, the sleeve 51 will be raised on 'thefixed shaft 56 mounted in the bracket 52 on the stationary plat 3'l,arid, "therefore, the yok'e'member 66 'and upper turret will be raised or lowered so as to regulate the capacity of the measuring cups of the turret.

The funnel casting 28 is provided with an inner circle of discrete directing pockets l2 and an outer ring of liquid directing pockets T3. The bottom of these outer pockets communicates with the discrete solid material pockets by openings 14 so thatthe resulting ope ings l6at thebottom of the casting are circular and of slightly less diameter than the receptacle to be filled.

The stationary plate 37 is provided with an elongated .arc'u'ate discharge opening i1 located in Figure 2 and shown in Figure 3 as over one of the discrete material pockets [2. The solid shaft 29 hasa gea'r lt secured to its bottom end, and this ge'ar meshes with a gear 19 on the lower end of a shaft 8|. Thi shaft extends up through the table It and is provided at its upper end want star wheel 82 so that upon the rotation of. said star wheel the internal shaft '29 will be rotated and thus the turret members 39 and 42 will be rotated while the pinion 41 on the upper turret member ii. meshing with a ring gear 48 on the hopper member will cause the rotation of the last mentioned member. The star wheels 83 and 84 are located on the opposite sides of the star wheel 82 and are on the same ra'dial center as the last mentioned star wheel.

The star wheels 83 and 84 are mounted in exactly the same manner on the table I6. The mounting of the star wheel 83 is as follows:

A shaft 86 is 'rotatably housed in a bearing 81 on said table, and said shaft is provided with a thrust collar 88 bearing on said table. Immediately above said thrust collar is the star wheel 83 which is fixedly secured to said shaft while the upper end of said "shaft is provided with a universal joint 89 connecting the shaft 86 with a shaft 9|.

This shaft 9| extends up into aliquidcontainer 92 which is supported on a bracket secured to the standard IT. This liquid container has a turretmember 93 having a circle of ring flanges .94. The turret has a central sleeve '96 extending over and keyed to the shaft 9| at 9'1. An upper plate member 98 is provided with plugs 99 which fit into said ring flanges while pins Illl extend downward from said plate and bear against lugs T02 on said sleeve so that the plugs 99 are centrally located in the ring flanges .thereby constituting "adjustable measuring cups for liquid in the container 92. The plate 98 has a sleeve I03 extending over the sleeve '96 of the turret inemberand itsupper end is'closed to provide a wall I64 while a screw [06 is 'rotatably fixed in said wa'll while its threaded end engages the upper "erido'f -the shaft'fl'i. The upper 'end'of said screw is provided witha hand wheel Ill! so that upon the turning'thereof the plugs 99 are lowered or raised in said 'ring flanges, thereby changing the capacity'thereo'f.

The liquid level indicated atLis always lower than the position of the highest cup indicated asM, and when th'efcup is in this position it is free 'to discharge through "a discharge opening H30 in the bottom of the container 92. The discharge outlet mu communicates with a pipe 1'05 which extends through the stationary plate 31 so that when said cupM is in the'position shown in Figure 9, it may discharge its contents'through the discharge opening I 00, the pipe I85, 'the stationary plate 31, and into "an outer auntie-1 13 in the funnel casting 28. I

The liquid measuring and dispensing device A ters Patents No. 2,061,644, granted November 24,

1936, and No. 2,158,767, granted May 16, 1939.

Briefly, this receptacle feeding mechanism has a magazine I08 into which the receptacles are longitudinally disposed and the bottom one is received by a screw member I09 and turned Onto its bottom, and when it is ejected from said receptacle feeding mechanism it engages the star wheel 83 while the next succeeding can or receptacle moves it forward so as to rotate the star wheel whereupon the receptacle is embraced by the fingers of the star wheel 83 and the star wheel 21. This operation turns the shaft 86 which through the universal joint 89 rotates the shaft SI and brings the uppermost measuring cup M into registry With the discharge opening Hill in the receptacle 92 whereupon the contents of said cup pass through said discharge opening through the pipe I on the stationary plate 3? from whence it is discharged into one of the outer ring of pockets in the funnel casting 28.

The star wheel 2'! fixed on the shaft 26 and continuously operating carries the receptacle in which liquid has been deposited from the liquid measuring device A in the direction of the arrow S (see Figure where it engages the fingers of the star wheel 82 which is fixed to the 7 upper end of the shaft 81, and this shaft being geared to the shaft 29 (see Figure 1) said shaft will rotate whereupon the pinion 32 at its upper end (see Figure 3) will be rotated, and since this pinion meshes with the pinion 33 on the shaft 34, which said shaft is'fixedly secured to the lower turret member 39 by the set screw 46, the turret members constituting the measuring pockets will be rotated so as to bring the already filled pocket into communicationwith th discharge opening II whereupon discrete solid material is deposited into the pocket I2 beneath said opening and passes through the lower opening I6 thereof into said receptacle. This operation of the turret consisting of the parts 39 and 42 has caused the rotation of the hopper through the pinion 4? meshing with the ring gear 48 and has tended to stir the contents of the hopper which is always in the process of filling the individual measuring cups.

The receptacle R passed along by the star wheel 21 engages the fingers of the star wheel 84 and the liquid dispensing device B is thus operated through the universal joint III connecting the shaft II2 so that the final deposit of liquid is made through the discharge opening H3 in precisely the same manner as explained in connection with the liquid dispensing device A. The receptacle B may then be transferred from the table BB in any suitable manner and many devices for these purposes are shown in connection with the prior art, and particularly the patents of the applicant herein.

The fingers of the several star wheels may be cut out as shown in Figure 6, and a piece of leather or other material I'M secured thereto so that the receptacle R will not be marked thereby.

The machine is provided with means for connecting and disconnecting the receptacle feeding mechanism regardless of the operation of the main shaft 26. Secured to hollow main shaft 26 is a ring gear IIB (see Figure 1).. This gear meshes with the splined end I ll of a hollow shaft I I8 slidably mounted in a bearing IIB mounted on the left hand standard I]. This shaft (see Figure 5) has the upper section I2I of a clutch member fixed thereto while the lower section I22 of said clutch may be freely rotatable on an internal shaft I23 passing up through said hollow shaft. This lower clutch member is provided with a keyway I24 while the shaft IE3 is provided with a key lug I26.

The lower clutch member I22 is supported on the shaft I23 by a collar I'Z'I on an arm I28. This arm I28 is pivoted to a bracket I29 mounted on the standard I'I while the upper end. of said arm is turned to provide a handle I3I which, when pressed downward, will raise the lower clutch member I22 whereupon the key lug I26 will enter the keyway I24 in said lower clutch member, and thus the clutch parts will become engaged and the inner shaft rotated by virtue of the connection there made. 1

The inner shaft I23 is housed in a three-way housing member I32 and is provided with a bevel pinion I33 meshing with a bevel pinion I34 on the operating shaft I36 of the receptacle feeding mechanism.

The apparatus herein described constitutes an efficient no can-no fill device, as without the receptacle none of the auxiliary star wheels will be operated, and'neither of the liquid dispensing devices nor the discrete solid material device can be operated to deposit material except through the operation of its respective auxiliary star wheel. Consequently this machine embodies, an efficient no canno fill virtue without parts other than the efiicient operating parts of the machine itself, and the absence of the can or receptacle itself constitutes the no can-no fill device,

In the operation of the machine, the liquid which is dispensed from the device A falls into the empty container where it at once finds its level. As the receptacle is advanced so. as to operate the star wheel which deposits discrete solid material into the receptacle, the solid material will quickly go to the bottom displacing the liquid in the receptacle, and thereafter there is little work left for the final dispensing device B.

Of course, the machine will be regulated so that the liquid dispensed by the device A will be of such an amount that it will not be splashed out of the container by the deposit of the disbetween the units of this material a small amount of liquid initially introduced may bring the liquid line up to a considerable height in the receptacle so that there is little time necessary for the final charge of liquid to reach the point desired in the receptacle.

The emcient mechanism for throwing out the. feeding of receptacles and thus virtually discontinuing the operation of the machine'while still keeping it running will be found of great advantage as it will not be necessary to operate belts in case the machine is belt-driven, nor to stop power means in case the same is direct connected. The measuring devices A and B may be so nicely regulated as to provide just suiiicient quantity of liquid to permit the machine to be.

operated at a high rate of speed which has been a amenity encountered with this kind of machine heretofore.

The machine will also be economical to construct as there are less operating parts than usually found in machines of this type, and the mechanisms themselves aside from the main drive are operated only through the receptacles which pass through the machine to be filled.

O f course, the receptacle filling machine herein illustrated and described may be modified and changed in various ways without departing from the invention herein set forth and hereafter claimed.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1 A receptacle filling machine comprising a table, a hollowshaft having a funnel member and a main star wheel mounted thereon, a solid shaft extending through said hollow shaft, a discrete material measuring and dispensing device operated by said solid shaft, a shaft having a star wheel on its upper end and operatively connected with said solid shaft, a stub shaft mounted in said table, a liquid measuring and dispensing device, a shaft for operating said last device and connected to said stub shaft by a universal joint, a star wheel on said stub shaft, r'ec'e'ptacle feeding mechanism, and means for driving said hollow shaft and feeding mechanism,

, said feeding mechanism arranged to feed a receptacle to the star wheel onthe stub shaft and to be engaged by the main star wheel to deposit liquid into said receptacle, said main star wheel then advancing said receptacle to engage the star wheel on the shaft connecting the discrete material operating shaft to deposit material into said "receptacle.

2. A receptacle filling machine comprising a table, a funnel member and a main star wheel adapted to be concurrently rotated, a discrete material measuring and dispensing device, a first shaft for operating said discrete material device, 'a second shaft having a star fwheel at its upper end operatively connected to said first shaft, a stub shaft mounted on said table, a liquid measua-mg and dispensing device, a third shaft for operating said last device connected to the stub shaft by a universal joint, a star wheel on said stub shaft, receptacle feeding mechanism, means for dr'ivingsaid funnel member, main star wheel *a'ndfeeding mechanism, said feeding mechanism being arranged to feed a receptacle to the star wheel on the stubsh'aft and to be engaged by the main star wheel to deposit liquid into said re- 'cep'tacle, and said main star wheel then advancing said receptacle to engagethe star wheel on the shaft 'connecting the discrete material operating shaft to deposit material into said receptacle.

3. A receptacle filling machine comprising a table, a funnel member and a main starwheel adapted to be concurrently rotated, a discrete material measuring and dispensing device, a first shaft for operating said discrete material device, a second shaft having a star wheel at its upper "end operatively connected to said first shaft, a stub shaft mounted on said table, a liquid measuring and dispensing device, a third shaft for operating said last device connected to the stub shaft by a universal joint, a star wheel on said stub shaft, receptacle feeding mechanism, said feeding mechanism being arranged to feed a receptacle to the star wheel on the stub shaft and to be engaged by the main star wheel to deposit liquid into said receptacle, said main star wheel then advancing said receptacle to engage the star wheel on the shaft connecting the discrete material operating shaft to deposit material into said receptacle, a common power source for driving said funnel member, main star wheel and feeding mechanism, and manually operable clutch means for disconnecting the feeding mechanism from the power source.

4. A receptacle filling machine comprising a table, a rotatable funnel member and a main star wheel adapted to be concurrently rotated, a discrete material measuring and dispensing device, a first shaft for operating said discrete material device, a second shaft having a star wheel at its upper end operatively connected to said first shaft, a plurality of liquid dispensing devices mounted on said table, a stub shaft for each liquid dispensing device mounted on said table, a shaft for operating each liquid dispensing device connected to a stub shaft by a universal joint, a star wheel on each stub shaft, receptacle feeding mechanism, means for driving said funnel member, main star wheel and feeding mechanism, said feeding mechanism being arranged to feed a receptacle to a star wheel on a stub shaft and to be engaged by the main star wheel to deposit liquid into said receptacle, said main star wheel then advancing said receptacle to engage the star wheel on the shaft connecting the discrete material operating shaft to deposit material into said receptacle, and said main star wheel further advancing said receptacle to engage a star wheel on thestub shaft for a second liquid dispensing device to deposit an additional amount of liquid into said receptacle.

CHARLES H. AYARS. 

